LAS VEGAS – They say what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas, but that is not the case for the Wisconsin women's basketball team who will bring back a victory after defeating Tennessee State, 80-70.
Three Badgers scored in double figures in the consolation championship of the Lady Rebel Round-Up on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Senior Avyanna Young scored a game-high and season-high 22 points while junior Cayla McMorris tallied 21 points to extend her double-figure streak to seven games.
McMorris drained a team season-high four 3-pointers in the contest on eight attempts. Collectively, the team had a season-high seven 3-pointers made with the other treys coming at the hands of Gabby Gregory (2) and Kendra Van Leeuwen (1).

"We had 21 assists on 26 made field goals, obviously we got to the free-throw line 35 times," head coach Jonathan Tsipis said. "I thought our energy defensively didn't go super high or super low, we were able to maintain that part of things. When we got a little frazzled, I felt it was never more than two possessions. We were able to regroup and get a great shot on the other end.

"I think you can see that. We have three players in double figures and then Avy with the double-double. I thought that Marsha (Howard) did a good job finishing and being an anchor in the zone."

The Badgers (2-5) significantly cut down on turnovers after just having a season-high 31 giveaways the day before, UW gave up a season-low 15 turnovers against the Tigers (1-4).

Wisconsin took the reins early, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the first five minutes with contributions from McMorris, Kendall Shaw and Young.

The Badgers extended their lead to 15-5 with less than three minutes to play after McMorris banked her second 3-pointer of the game just one minute after Gregory made her first. TSU cut the lead down to six (15-9) with 43 seconds to play in the first but Wisconsin quickly broke away in the second period.

Back-to-back jump shots from Malayna Johnson helped the Cardinal and White secure the double-digit lead (19-9) in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Courtney Fredrickson delivered the dagger that pushed UW to a 12-point lead (21-9, 8:19). After Young put in both free throws in the eighth minute of the period, the Badgers had a scoring drought up until McMorris fought her way into the paint at the 4:11 mark to make it 25-14 in the Badgers' favor.

TSU's Diamond Beatty caused Wisconsin some trouble toward the end of the first half, scoring six points but UW had a troublemaker of its own in the form of Young, who used two more tip-ins and a free throw to help lock down the 37-21 Badger lead at the half.

Wisconsin stood strong in the third quarter, edging Tennessee State 20-18 in that period. TSU started the quarter with a 4-0 run that was cut off by a made free throw from Shaw. From there, the Badgers continued a hot 8-3 run ending with a McMorris shot from beyond the arc the 6:21 mark, giving Bucky the 45-28 lead.

Two consecutive layups from Howard with less than three minutes left in the quarter gave Wisconsin its largest lead of the game by 21 points, 56-35.

Howard turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, putting in six points to stop a Tennessee State resurgence.

Four made free throws from McMorris in the final minute of the game sealed the deal on Wisconsin's second win of the season.

The Badgers scored 20 points off of 20 forced turnovers on the Tigers. UW finished the game, shooting 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-17) from beyond the arc. Additionally, UW made 21 free throws on 35 attempts at the courtesy stripe.

Young led the team in points (22) and rebounds (10), marking the 18th double-double of her career and second of the season.

"I thought she was our energy right from the start," Tsipis added. "She didn't hesitate on that 14-footer to start the game and then knocking down some free throws. She was really active in the wing and the zone, the more we can do that and push things out then other people can get some time and we can continue to build off that."

It was also UW's largest margin of victory (10) this season.

The Badgers return home for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday in the Kohl Center as they take on the Tar Heels of North Carolina at 7 p.m.

"I think (North Carolina) has some tremendous scorers and did a great job bouncing back this weekend after losing to South Florida and came back and beat our Big Ten rival Minnesota," Tsipis said. "I think fans are going to see a very entertaining game and we've got to find ways to make sure and slow them down so we can make sure the tempo is in our favor."